A PTR for Princesses of all ages...2 days to go.. will I ever be ready??

[pamouselover]

Love you emails! We did not stay at POR, but stayed at POFQ. POR gift shop was bigger and nicer then POFQ. Try to fit in enjoying the resorts, both POR and POFQ. The boat will take you on a nice five min. ride to POFQ.
Go down the slide on the pool for me.

 

[MAGGIED]

Oh no!! Good luck!!!

it was all fixed... only $80 which is pretty good considering the alternative..

Hey MaggieD!
I found how to get to your trip thread! Imagine that, all I had to do was click on your little what-cha-call-it with all the symbols!!!! Duh Love reading your plans. Ought to start my own for our May trip, huh? Probably more fun to just read yours!
Your Mom is going,right? I especially love that. My mom took us to Disneyland as often as she could afford it when we were little (there were five of us kids growing up in Southern Californai many years ago) but I never got to take her with my kids to WDW.
Keep up the planning so you can continue the story.

LOL.... thats funny.... yes my Mom is going... we love to travel together...she is so much fun.... so is my DAunt... we have never traveled with DFirend Pat but I have known her for over 40 years.. she is low maintenance and a sweet person so I think it will be fun!!!

Wendy-
Looks like you've got everything all set for a great trip! We will be in WDW May 13-20th. We too are flying out of Rochester our rates were similar to yours. I was happy with them.

This is my first trip. We decided on CBR before I found these boards. Now I wish we hadn't based on what I've read. I'm sure it is going to be a fantastic time though and given its our first time (none of us have been) our expectations are low. I'm just a bit concerned with the size of the resort.

ADR's are made! I am so excited I can't seem to think of anything else.

Don't worry about CBR... there really isn't any place that is that far... they have the bridges and paths so you can get tot he pool and dining hall easily. While we prefer other moderates it was a nice place... and most of your time is spent in the parks so it really is just a place to rest your head at night!!!!

We fly out of Rochester most the time because for some reason the flights out of Syracuse are so much more money... sometimes we try Buffalo which is really close for the rest of the family as they all live about 30 minutes fromthe Buffalo airport... but parking in Rochester is cheap... try the Red economy lot... so much easier and cheaper than parking really close...

Love you emails! We did not stay at POR, but stayed at POFQ. POR gift shop was bigger and nicer then POFQ. Try to fit in enjoying the resorts, both POR and POFQ. The boat will take you on a nice five min. ride to POFQ.
Go down the slide on the pool for me.

The first moderate we stayed at with ourkids was POFQ...w e thoughtit was lovely... I liked the size of it alot... we would go back there but we need to be able to accomodate 5 people this time and POR will... I also loved the beignets (not sure how to spell that)...at POFQ...they were yummy!!!

 

[MAGGIED]

Todays email....

Ladies..... 80 days until the Magic happens.... Pirates of the Caribbean was the last Disney attraction that was personally supervised by Walt Disney.

 

[princess&her4princes]

Todays email....

Ladies..... 80 days until the Magic happens.... Pirates of the Caribbean was the last Disney attraction that was personally supervised by Walt Disney.

 

[tiggersam00]

Hope you dont mind me jumping in here! I love your plans so far, girls only sounds like so much fun, and you have a pretty lively group it sounds like!

I want to do that with my mom next year!

What great luck with the Princess Dinner! It looks so yummy there, it is on my list of things to try! I have only heard great things, and 4 charcter meals is ok... you picked very different meals so you will have lots of variety!

Can't wait to hear more of your plans!

 

[MAGGIED]

Hope you dont mind me jumping in here! I love your plans so far, girls only sounds like so much fun, and you have a pretty lively group it sounds like!

I want to do that with my mom next year!

What great luck with the Princess Dinner! It looks so yummy there, it is on my list of things to try! I have only heard great things, and 4 charcter meals is ok... you picked very different meals so you will have lots of variety!

Can't wait to hear more of your plans!

Thanks for stopping by..... I see in your signature you are having a Disney Fairytale wedding.... my DD wants to get married at Disney ..... she has it all planned... now she just needs to find someone to pay for it..

where in MA do you live? We lived in Bedford for 12 years..... loved it!!!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Hi Wendy! Loving the PTR!
Those t-shirts are super cute. We stayed at POR in Jan 2008, just for a couple nights, but it was great. We were in a mansion building. I really liked how beautiful the resort is and the food court had lots of options. We rode the boat over to DTD - that was fun. Didn't use the pool (no time and it was rainy), but it looked nice. I'm sure you'll like it!
I'm loving the trivia - even if I knew it already - it's so fun!!

 

[kshearer]

[ but parking in Rochester is cheap... try the Red economy lot... so much easier and cheaper than parking really close...



Thanks- We are actually driving up to Rochester the night before our early morning flight and can leave our car at the hotel for the week.

 

[MAGGIED]

[ but parking in Rochester is cheap... try the Red economy lot... so much easier and cheaper than parking really close...



Thanks- We are actually driving up to Rochester the night before our early morning flight and can leave our car at the hotel for the week.

Thats a great idea... we are only about an hour away so we can get there easy enough .... the nice thing for us is DMom, DAunt, DFriend Pat all are in the Buffalo region and DD and I are in Syracuse... so Rochester is half way for all of us... and we can fly together....

 

[MAGGIED]

One of the things that I like to do for our trips is make a little booklet of important information about the trip.... this booklet turned out to be 26 pages this time.. in it includes info on the hotel, the theme parks, park hours, menus etc.... The cover of this booklet was the castle...

then there were a few pages about the resort.... takes from places like Allearsnet.com... here is the info I gave my traveling companions about the resort....

Port Orleans Riverside is a resort themed to the Mississippi-bayou area of the Old South. Appropriate to the magic of Disney, numerous thematic elements recreate the feel of actually being in the bayou. The mighty Sassagoula River winds through the Resort, heading downstream to Port Orleans French Quarter and eventually the Downtown Disney area.

The Resort center, which houses the registration area, food court, restaurant, and other services, carries a riverboat dock theme, as if you are booking passage with the Sassagoula Steamboat Company. The restaurant -- Boatwright's Dining Hall -- is designed as a boat building operation, the food court features an operating cotton press, and you check in under signs listing the Steamboat destinations.
Port Orleans Riverside Resort is split into two sections, Alligator Bayou and Magnolia Bend, plus the main facilities building (the Sassagoula Steamboat Company) and a recreational island (Ol’ man Island) which is located centrally between the two areas.

Alligator Bayou consists of 16 two-story buildings with 64 guest rooms in each. As the buildings are fairly small, there are no elevators. The area is themed as a rustic backwater bayou, with dense foliage, meandering streams and pathways, small pools and pretty bridges. The rooms follow this rustic style and feature such themed items as bed-posts hewn from logs. Note: some people love this theming, while others comment that it feels rather ’basic’.

Magnolia Bend consists of four larger 256-room plantation style ‘mansion buildings’ laid out in more formal gardens with fountains and courtyards. The rooms are more ornate and plushly decorated, although the actual size and facilities provided are identical to those in Alligator Bayou. The mansions are all three storied buildings near the main entrance and two stories in the outlying blocks.

All rooms are approximately 314 square feet and feature two double beds. The Alligator Bayou double-bedded rooms (only) also feature an extra pull-out trundle bed which allows this section to sleep five people. All rooms include: phone, TV, clock, small fridge, bathtub/shower, toilet, two wash basins, table & two chairs, bedside table, cabinet with drawers (beneath the TV), air conditioning & ceiling fan, cabled internet access, small wall-safe, coffee maker, hair dryer, iron & ironing board, clothes hanging rail.
The Sassagoula Steamboat Company main facilities building is themed as a riverboat depot and an old-fashioned cotton mill, and it provides the resort’s lobby and front desk facilities, shop, restaurants and bars, the main bus stop and ferry boat dock, plus boat and bike rental facilities.

Fulton's General Store is located in the Resort commercial center, adjacent to the River Roost Lounge. Fulton's (named after the famed steamboat inventor) carries a large assortment of postcards, souvenirs, over the counter pharmacy needs and convenience items. There's a bulk candy counter, a snack area with a limited selection of liquor, munchies, cold beverages, and toiletries. The clothing section has been enlarged over the last few years and it's surprising how many choices you have here. You can also find a newsstand, Disney character and Resort themed merchandise, and "country"-style clothing and knickknacks.

There are four bus stops at Riverside. The main South depot, with the "Mason-Dixon" platforms, is located at the Resort commercial center. The other three are along the Resort's perimeter road, Sassagoula Circle. There is a stop within a 3-4 minute walk of any room.
Riverside has two primary dining spots: a sit-down restaurant, Boatwright's, and a food court, Riverside Mill. Boatwright's, themed around the days of wooden boat building.

Built to resemble a working cotton press, the Riverside Mill food court houses a fascinating set of massive working gears which are powered by a large water wheel. Open 6:00 a.m. to midnight, a good variety of fast food, much of it healthy, is available from several vendors, as are refillable mugs.
Ol’ Man Island contains Riverside’s main feature swimming pool. It’s themed as an old-fashioned swimming hole located on a wooded island surrounded by the Sassagoula River. The main pool has waterfalls and a 95 ft slide, plus there’s a separate kiddies pool, hot tub and the Muddy Rivers Pool Bar if you just want to sit on the porch with a drink.


The Legend of Ol' Man Island: "Settled in 1835 by a Young Man, the island became his home in the solitude of the Bayou Country. Years later, as Riverside was settled and prospered, Ol' Man Island was discovered by the children of the town. They would steal away to play on the island where a wondrous world had been created. The island is a tribute to the Ol' Man and the happiness he gave the children and all of Riverside's Neighbors."
Port Orleans Riverside also has five smaller ‘quiet’ pools – two in the Magnolia Bend area and three in Alligator Bayou.

Take an evening horse and carriage ride through the French Quarter and Riverside regions of Disney's Port Orleans Resort. Various forms of recreation are available, including hourly bicycle and boat/paddleboat rentals. Surrey bikes are available for rental for $16 per half hour at the Riverside Levee. On a warm, breezy day, there might not be a better way to pass the time than peddling through the "bayou". For details, check at the Riverside Levee rental window underneath the twin water towers. Bike rental hours are 8:00 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. although operating hours are seasonal.You can rent a boat for a trip up and down the river, or motor to Downtown Disney for shopping and dining. Boats can be rented from 10:00 a.m.- 5:30 p.m.
You'll see that the buildings in the Resort, starting with Parterre Place in Magnolia Bend, begin very luxuriously, and become more rustic and dilapidated looking as you move up river, culminating in the backwoods settings of Alligator Bayou. As the Riverside (was Dixie Landings) "legend" goes, this is due to the fact that, as pioneers traveled up the Sassagoula River (which we are told is the American Indian word for "Mississippi"), they started building residences with the grandest of building materials from the "city" of the French Quarter (was Port Orleans). As they got further upstream, the building supplies started running low, and they were forced to improvise. Similarly, the exterior of the Resort commercial center starts out looking mighty fancy at the Medicine Show Arcade, becoming rustic and weather-beaten by the time it reaches the Cotton Mill building.
As you walk along the Sassagoula River between Magnolia Bend and Alligator Bayou, look closely and you'll notice a transition area where the rustic pines of the Bayou give way to the grand flowering trees of the Bend. It's a seamless transition that keeps each area separate, yet blends them into one all at the same time.
Riverside is one of the nicest and best-themed moderate Resort at WDW. The extensive, award-winning landscaping, courteous cast, and choice of room themes will certainly add a large share of Disney magic to our vacation.
Disney's Riverside Resort is located at 1251 Riverside Drive, PO Box 10000, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830. Phone 407-934-6000, Fax 407-934-5777.



Next up... the dining information...

 

[MAGGIED]

This weekends planning consisted of shopping for some new summer clothes...
new white capris from NY & Co., a bathing suit from JC Penney, some T-shirts and a sun dress from American Eagle. Here is what they look like...

Also I purchased some white pillow cases to make special ones for each member of our traveling party... I am still researching some of the fabulous designers here on the DIS... such talented people...

Tonight is date night... with my DH.... Maggie is off at school... and Daniel is in Vermont skiing for the weekend... so DH and I are going to dinner and a movie...

 

[coffeehousemom]

Your trip sounds like fun. I would love to take my mother to WDW for her birthday this Sept. It would be fun to do "grown up " things ie shows for a change.

 

[kshearer]

This weekends planning consisted of shopping for some new summer clothes...

It was a great weekend for shopping! To cold to do anything else!

 

[pamouselover]

Cute clothes. I am so in need of some new ones myself.
Love your updates, wondering what feed back our you getting on the emails?Do they love them? I would!!!!!!!!

 

[princess&her4princes]

Love all the things you bought this weekend!! Adorable!! Btw, love the pillowcase idea, my Mom is stressed I'm going to make her wear matching shirts for our trip...maybe I can borrow this idea?

 

[MAGGIED]

Your trip sounds like fun. I would love to take my mother to WDW for her birthday this Sept. It would be fun to do "grown up " things ie shows for a change.

It is fun... no worries about naps... although a nap by the pool might be in order... what will be so nice is that we will be there during the Flower and Garden Festival.... I think they will really like that!!!

This weekends planning consisted of shopping for some new summer clothes...

It was a great weekend for shopping! To cold to do anything else!

There were some really great sales... the capri pants I got for 7.99.. and the tops at American Eagle were by one get one for $10... plus I had a 40% off coupon for everything at AE...

Cute clothes. I am so in need of some new ones myself.
Love your updates, wondering what feed back our you getting on the emails?Do they love them? I would!!!!!!!!

They are loving the emails.... the trivia is so much fun!!! More to come tomorrow!!!!

Love all the things you bought this weekend!! Adorable!! Btw, love the pillowcase idea, my Mom is stressed I'm going to make her wear matching shirts for our trip...maybe I can borrow this idea?

I think for the pillow cases I am going to put everyones favorite character on theirs and then their name!!1 We are wearing our shirts on the plane....

Thanks for visiting everyone!!!

 

[MAGGIED]

time to update my traveling companions... and all my disfriends as well.... Todays email trivia was related to Animal Kingdom... I love Animal Kingdom.. it is so peaceful there and so much to see if you pay attention to the little details.... which DIsney does.... so here was todays email

Good Morning Ladies,

We are down to 74 days until our trip..... there is so much to learn about Animal Kingdom.... in Africia...The village of Harambe is based on the ancient Kenyan island town of Lamu. According to Disney "legend", this town was once a hub for gold and ivory trade, and is now a tourist village. I agineers worked hard to tell the story of this small village that has grown and changed over the years. In fact, Disney brought over 13 Zulu craftsman from Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa, to create the thatched roofs throughout Africa including the Harambe Village Marketplace. They also looked to capture the flavor of this coastal town by creating narrow, winding streets, importing native artifacts, and even creating cracks in the sidewalks create a town that looks weathered by time.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Wendy

 

[tiggersam00]

Thanks for stopping by..... I see in your signature you are having a Disney Fairytale wedding.... my DD wants to get married at Disney ..... she has it all planned... now she just needs to find someone to pay for it..

where in MA do you live? We lived in Bedford for 12 years..... loved it!!!

Hi there, sorry it took me so long to respond, I couldn't find your PTR for some reason . I am from Newton, MA actually, not too far from Bedford!
I always wanted a Disney Wedding and actually am finding it to cost significantly less $$ then a wedding around Boston where we live... I was surprised to find that out in fact! She should have a DFTW, they are so much fun to plan lol! The paying for it part is the tough part for sure !

 

[MAGGIED]

Hi there, sorry it took me so long to respond, I couldn't find your PTR for some reason . I am from Newton, MA actually, not too far from Bedford!
I always wanted a Disney Wedding and actually am finding it to cost significantly less $$ then a wedding around Boston where we live... I was surprised to find that out in fact! She should have a DFTW, they are so much fun to plan lol! The paying for it part is the tough part for sure !

Well she is still in college so we have a ways to go before that... hopefully... she actually wants to move to Boston to do her graduate work... I hope she just stays around here... I like her being 45 minutes away... I can go visit when I want to... or when she wants to go out to dinner...

I would think planning a Disney wedding would require atleast 2 trips to scope things out.... at least that is what I would tell my DH... "sorry hun.. we have got to check out the reception area...."

 

[tiggersam00]

Well she is still in college so we have a ways to go before that... hopefully... she actually wants to move to Boston to do her graduate work... I hope she just stays around here... I like her being 45 minutes away... I can go visit when I want to... or when she wants to go out to dinner...

I would think planning a Disney wedding would require atleast 2 trips to scope things out.... at least that is what I would tell my DH... "sorry hun.. we have got to check out the reception area...."

Boston is a fun town, she will love it! I think at least 2 trips are in order at least... it's really an investment for your daughters happiness (my mom tried that one... it didnt work, but she is getting one trip at least! lol)